


Appendix B: Gender and Sexuality on Earth, Vulcan, and Andor

by Laura JV (jacquez)



Series: The spear in your heart [3]
Category: Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: Worldbuilding, appendix
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-20
Updated: 2018-10-20
Packaged: 2019-08-05 01:53:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16358405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jacquez/pseuds/Laura%20JV
Summary: Gender and Sexuality in "With Careful Hands". Contains mild spoilers for the story.





	Appendix B: Gender and Sexuality on Earth, Vulcan, and Andor

I have constructed gender and sexuality for all species in this universe somewhat, though not entirely, at odds with established _Star Trek_ canon.

 

In this particular version of Earth, it is usual to use they/them pronouns for people unless you know their gender for certain. In most cases, you would find out someone's pronouns because they wear a pronoun tag necklace or some other jewelry that indicates their gender, or from someone who knows it. The jewelry choices go in & out of fashion, and are to some extent are generational. Martha Hudson and her wife Marie Turner wear tag necklaces; Mycroft, Gregson, and Lestrade all wear patterned bracelets; Sherlock, Stamford, and Molly Hooper don't wear anything.

 

John is not aware of all the human politeness rules about pronoun use. For instance, when humans use pronouns towards one another, he assumes that those pronouns are correct and adopts them himself. This is a generally safe assumption, but, crucially, it is _not_ one a native to Earth culture would make: they would continue to use they/them until a specific set was indicated by the person they were referring to. As a result of this, pronouns for some characters change as John becomes aware of which ones they use. Any time John changes pronouns without the person having explicitly indicated their preference, he is being slightly inappropriate because he does not know he shouldn't do that.

 

In addition, John comes from a culture that does not conceptualize biological sex, sexuality, or gender the way that humans do. The basics are that one's biological sex is understood from birth via genetyping and detailed medical scans, and that sex is used for assigning childhood bondmates into likely-fertile pairings (or assigning likely-infertile people into pairings with each other). The entire population has arranged marriages as children; this is intended to ensure that no one dies during _pon farr_. Childhood bondmates are always within a year of each other's age, and it would be wildly unacceptable to bond children farther apart in age than that. Such a bond would be broken by professionals and the children removed from their parents. Adults who lost their bondmate would generally be encouraged to find another within a year. The psychic shock of losing the bond will usually delay the mating cycle by two or three years. John is avoiding having to deal with this situation by avoiding New Vulcan and other Vulcan colonies.

 

One's gender can change depending on the exact role they are inhabiting at a given time. The two most common roles are social and ceremonial. For example, the Eldest Mother of a clan must be ceremonially female, but only physical qualifications for Eldest Mother are to have given birth to at least one child, and to be the oldest person in one's clan to have done so. A socially masculine person would likely (but not necessarily) reject this role, but if he physically qualified, it would be an insult from the clan not to make the offer.

 

One's sexuality is considered entirely a matter of personal choice, and one may be bonded to one person and maintain a sexual relationship with another person entirely. This is common and socially acceptable, and these relationships are almost always conducted openly. John was bonded to T'Mar and had a strong mental link to her, but despite mutual fondness, they were not romantically involved and did not have a sexual relationship outside of _pon farr_. He had a sexual relationship with Sholtor for several years, but no mental link to him.

 

Andorian gender and sexuality is handled at a very surface level in this work. The on-screen canon is inconsistent, and some of the pro _Star Trek_ novels address Andorian sexuality; its representation here is based largely on those novels. Andorians have four sexes, shen, zhen, chan, and thaan; all four are required to produce offspring. Over 100 years before this story takes place, a biological disaster severely damaged the ability of Andorians to reproduce, and many zhen individuals are infertile or have only a very narrow window of fertility. Andorians are not able to maintain population replacement as a species. As a result, Andorians are genetically tested and assigned to bondgroups at a young age, to maximize the chance of children. These bondgroups have weak telepathic links that are easily attenuated by distance. Whichever of Jharah and Bav was killed first would have noticed the other's death via the bond, due to their proximity, but their mates back on Andor could not have felt it.


End file.
